Something Else
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Laxus spends a little time reflecting on the relationship he has with his demon. - One-shot.


Something Else

It was her shifting that awoke him, but the orange and yellow hue peeking through the blinds that kept him awake. And with a groan, Laxus blinked open his eyes, blurrily staring up at the ceiling for a few moments.

The demon was still snoozing, her breaths coming out softly against his arm as she curled towards him. When his vision came into focus, that was the first place Laxus looked, over at her, a slight grin coming up to play on his lips.

"Mirajane," he exhaled, reaching one hand over to gently pat her on the head. "What're you doin' here?"

She didn't answer, of course, being that she was sleeping, but that was alright. He didn't really wanna wake her. At the moment, honestly, all he wanted to know was what time it was. And, after a check of the clock on his bed, he found it to nearly be seven. Which helped a little, fine, but the bigger question was whether it was seven in the morning or evening.

Shifting himself then, he got on his knees to peek out the window above his bed. Sun was definitely going down. Good. It meant that he hadn't slept for an entire day (depending on the job he was returning from, sometimes that was necessary). But it didn't explain what the demon was doing in the middle of the day, just laying there in his bed.

Not that he minded. In fact, he was actually a little excited. She rarely got nights off and, well, apparently she had one. Which meant that they'd be able to go out somewhere. Dinner, shopping, something. Actual dates were rare for them, so they were kind of a cherished event. Especially evening ones.

Settling back into the bed, he found his side a not too comfortable position (he'd gotten rather banged up on his last outing), but it was the best position for watching the demon, which was all he wanted to do then. He wondered where she'd wanna go. That's how their nights were usually decided. He was a sucker for her, after all.

If she'd ever wake up. Sigh.

She looked too cute to awake up. Not that he'd ever say that. Seriously, not ever. But in the quiet of the room with only the sound of her breathing to be heard, it found it's way into his mind. It was true, too, for what it was worth. She had her bangs down and, when she let a breath out, they'd flutter slightly. So cute.

His demon though, she was something else. She always had been. Even before all that stuff with her sister 'dying' she'd been complex. He liked that. Complex. And she'd only gotten more so since then. She had her typical, sweet and caring personality intermingled with that dark and brooding one that was just below the surface. In their past year or so of dating, he'd picked enough that it'd come up a few times. And man, they didn't call her the she-demon for nothing.

Laxus' little Satan. When she was mad at him, it was like dealing with a wizard saint or something. He'd rather fight freaking Jura again, than argue with her. Especially when he saw that glint in her eyes. That dark one. The one that she seemed to reserve for the cruelest of enemies. And him. Oh, she saved it for him. Unleashed it on him.

"Behave."

That was her favorite warning. He'd learned over the past few months to either heed it or face the consequences. Hear that and he had to decide if continuing to tease Elfman was worth it. If annoying Lisanna was worth the risk. And hell, if he even thought about coming into his own damn apartment with her over and start slamming doors because he was pissed about something, well, ignoring that word was a death wish.

Like he was a dog or something. Like she could just say that and control him. As if he was just conditioned to do whatever she wanted when he heard that.

…Well, he was, now, but back then, he was pretty damn defiant about it.

Especially when she did it at the guildhall. He'd told her about that before, not to demean him in front of others, but she just didn't listen. Making fun of the others and their magic prowess (or lack there of) just wasn't allowed. She wouldn't stand for it.

She had him on a short leash.

But he wasn't a dog. Oh, no, Laxus was something a lot harder to tame.

"Dragon."

That was another one of her words. Dragon. And, depending on the inflection in her tone, it could mean a multitude of things. That she was happy with him. Angry with him. Pissed at him. About to kick him out of the apartment. And, of course, his favorite, that whatever he was doing at that moment was working and to not stop.

Hehe.

He liked being Mirajane's dragon. A lot more than he thought that he would. It made him special. To her. And…it made him feel good. It meant that Mirajane loved him. A lot. Even when she was saying it in a not so encouraging way, it was still more than she had for anyone else.

And, after all, he wasn't the only one with a new moniker. She was something to him too. His demon. His crazy, sexy demon that seemed intent on possessing his soul or something, but that was okay. He'd give it all for her.

Like he'd said before, anyhow, dragons weren't exactly the easiest to overtake. But damn if Mirajane hadn't already. He was more than tamed. He was fucking maimed.

She still wanted more too.

He'd never had a woman infiltrate his life in such a way. And so quickly! Considering he was still very much so going out on jobs as frequently as possible and she was working her little butt off at the guildhall, one would think that they'd never have any time to see one another, but somehow, they managed. And when they were together, there was nothing that could separate them.

Fighting, fucking, or just hanging out at his apartment talking and snuggling, they always found something to do. One of her favorites (he could just tell that it was) consisted of him going over to her stupid tiny house with her stupid siblings and pretending to actually like it. Hanging out with Elfman, listening to him go on and on about men or listening to Lisanna talk about whatever her and the Salamander had done that week, Laxus was usually up to his neck with Strauss shit.

And, oh, the dog! That damn stray that Mirajane kept, if that wasn't the worst of them all. Laxus had to play fetch with him nearly every damn time he came over to the house. He hadn't thought that the dog would like him, honestly, considering he wasn't the most welcoming of people, but he did. Oh, he did. That dog, Alexandria, he loved Laxus. He seemed to have a sixth sense about when he'd be coming over, too, as he'd almost always be around when the man showed up, stick already in his mouth, just waiting for a chance to play.

The worst part was, Laxus didn't even like the damn mutt! At all! And, when he first saw him there, sitting in Mira's front yard, he thought that she didn't either. She called him a mutt and a stray and that she had no idea why he always came around, so Laxus thought that that would be that.

Until his demon rushed into the house, reheated some of the dinner from the night before, and came back to feed it to him. And Alexandria, that dang dog, he knew it too, that she was going to do that. Didn't even act grateful. Just ate and left. Like that. Like he knew the demon had him covered. Like he was the fucking prodigal son or something. Come and go as he pleased.

Annoying.

That was Mira's perfect day spent together though. Over at her house, killing hours playing fetch, listening to Elfman, and placating to Lisanna's fanciful thoughts about the Salamander actually being interested in her and not the celestial wizard. Laxus just had to sit through it all. Throw the stick, agree that men were great, not mention that Natsu and Lucy were pretty much a given. He did it too. All of it. Because he loved the demon.

Yeah. That's right. Laxus loved his demon. And he wasn't afraid to admit it. He did shit for that woman that he wouldn't even think about doing for another. She was his little Satan. He'd do anything to keep her happy. Safe. Content. He knew that it took a lot out of their relationship, him going away all the time on S-Class jobs, so when he was home, he tried his hardest to make things seem great for her. Give her something to look forward to while he was away.

Because Laxus wasn't stupid. The demon? She could have any guy in the guild. Any guy. Multiple ones if she wanted. But she didn't. And she hadn't. Ever. She chose him. For whatever reason, Mirajane Strauss loved Laxus Dreyar. He couldn't explain it, he didn't understand it, and no one else in Magnolia seemed to either. Even she questioned it at times, he was sure.

Which was fine. No one else needed to get it. Because it wasn't something that had to be understood. That had to be picked apart and dissected. It was better the way it was. Some things were best kept ambiguous and, well, their love was one of them.

He'd marry her one day. He'd already decided that. Which was another odd thing, as, though it was Mirajane that verbalized it frequently, he would be a liar to not admit that it crossed his mind too. It was a definite as far as he was concerned. Sure fire thing. Even if it didn't work out, that was fine. Laxus just wanted Mira cemented in there, forever, regardless of their future. And being his first (and hopefully only) wife was the way to go.

"Five."

That was another thing Mirajane said a lot. They were going to have five. Five kids, that is. She didn't care if they were all girls or all boys or some sort of mixture, but there were going to be at least five.

Which, obviously, wasn't going to happen. Maybe one. A boy. Or a girl. But one. To keep Mira company when he was out on jobs and distracted from missing him.

Or maybe two. Because he'd grown up as an only child and it was a pretty lonely existence. Hopefully a boy and girl. Then Mira could experience having both and he wouldn't have to worry about her wanting-

Well, maybe if they had three he wouldn't have to worry about if the other two were fighting, because then there'd be a third to keep them appeased and…

Fuck. They were having five kids. Why fight it?

But that would be fine. He'd _probably_ have the guild by then and have some more time off to spend training them. Because he would be training them. All of them. No matter their magic, he was going to be their overseer. Train them to the bone. All five.

That always made the demon laugh when he said that. She would always tell him that she liked the thought of him being so involved with their kids which usually made him frown before informing her that there was no way he'd ever not be. They'd be his brats and his job to keep in line.

They'd have the weight of the Dreyar name on their backs and, well, he knew from experience that that wasn't the easiest thing to uphold. He'd be there to help them carry it though, every step of the way.

But it'd be a few years before he started on that dynasty (if he was having five of them, he was going to call it that and they all just better get used to it). Laxus wasn't doing poorly in the finance department, not by any account, but he wanted to do better. Have more. Save enough to give the demon the wedding that she wanted, within reason, and buy her a nice house to boot. Give the baby Dreyars somewhere nice to grow up. So they weren't down at the guildhall bothering him all the time.

He just wanted to do that one thing that his father couldn't; provide. He wanted to give them a nice home, a good mother, and, of course, tons of attention. And…well, love, too. And if he was getting with the demon, there'd be a bunch of aunts and uncles tied in there, what with his Thunder Legion and her goofy siblings. His kids were going to be fine. He'd make sure of it.

And he was grinning too, real big then, for some reason, as he just laid there uncomfortably on his side, staring at Mirajane, as if his gaze could wake her from the deep slumber she had going. Not that he wanted it to. He was having fun, trapped in his own little mental overview of their relationship and what the future held for it. Maybe it was the sleep that was still tugging at his mind, the exhaustion still rearing it's head as the dreams tried to take over once more, but he just couldn't help it.

He was in love. Huh.

"Mmmmm."

And the demon was waking up.

"Hey, Mira," he whispered as she opened her eyes slowly, just staring at him. "You awake?"

"Lax?"

"Mmmhmm. What are you doin' in here? Huh?"

She didn't answer, just moaned a little. With a grin, he shook his head slightly.

"Well, anyhow, it's about dinner time. You wanna get up. Huh? Take a shower and go out? Take you anywhere you want," he enticed. When she just blinked, he was quick to add, "Or, we could lay around in bed for a bit. I like that idea too. I'm not sure what I got in the fridge, but I'm sure there's something we could eat later and, for now, we could just rest a bit more. Or not rest, if you catch my drift."

That got her eyes opened. "Oh no."

"Well, don't have such a bad reaction. We don't _have_ to have sex. I mean, it's not a deal breaker. I was just-"

"No, Laxus," she groaned, pushing up then and looking around. "What time is it?"

"A little past seven," he told her. "In the evening, believe it or not. I thought it was morning when I first-"

"What?"

"Well, demon, I just get so tired sometimes that I sleep for-"

"Oh, no, Laxus, I overslept!"

Overslept?

"Did you miss the part about it being night or-"

She just sat up though. "I have to get to work."

"Mira, you're not listening. It's-"

"No, Lax, I know." She glanced at him then. "When Freed and the others came into the guildhall this morning and told me that you guys were back, I took the afternoon shift off. I got here at noon, but you were asleep, so I figured I'd lay down and rest with you for a bit. But I had to get back by six. Oh, no! Lisanna was going to go somewhere with Natsu and Lucy. She's going to kill me. I bet we're getting slammed."

He just frowned. "Wait, so I slept away our six hours together? No fair."

"Dragon." She was reaching over to the bedside table then, picking up her hair tie before expertly sweeping her bangs back up into her little pony tail. "I have to go, okay? So-"

"No. Demon-"

"I'm sorry." She even turned and leaned towards him then, grasping his jaw with one hand as she pressed a deep kiss against his lips. Laxus tried to reciprocate, but the second he did, she pulled back and just pressed a kiss to his head instead. Then, staring deeply at him with her sparkling blue eyes, she said, "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, huh? I love you."

"Love you," he got out as she just climbed out of bed before scurrying off to the bathroom, no doubt to check her makeup and hair out. Not a minute later though, the front door was opening before just as quickly closing.

He was alone.

Sigh.

Rolling onto his stomach then, Laxus moved to bury his head in Mirajane's usual pillow, taking a deep sniff of her perfume, her scent more or less intertwined with the fabric everlastingly at that point, she stayed over so frequently.

He wasn't sad though. Didn't even pout. Just had to lay there and take it. Because he expected the same of Mira when he took a long job and she always delivered. Always. He'd see her tomorrow. And, maybe, if he was lucky, she'd actually come back to his place that night instead of her own.

Snuggling deeper into the pillow, he let out a slow breath before trying to drift off again, hoping to keep thoughts of their relationship and future on his mind so that he dreamt of it.

His demon was something else.


End file.
